Trend Micro: CEOs in Vietnam increasingly targeted by BEC scams

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam ranks first in terms of business email compromise (BEC) scams and CEOs, managing directors, directors, and presidents of enterprises are the primary targets, according to information from Trend Micro.

Dhanya Thakkar, vice president of Trend Micro in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa

Myla Pilao, director of Trend Micro TrendLabs, announced at a press conference organised by Trend Micro shared information about cyber security for enterprises in Vietnam as well as globally, in addition to Trend Micro’s available solutions to ensure cyber security for enterprises.

According to the statistics published by Trend Micro, in 2018 global losses from BECs may exceed $12 billion and BEC scams are still on the rise.

Cyber attacks have become the largest threat for enterprises globally, causing financial losses as well as resulting in some enterprises suspending operations.

The targeted attacks have increased in number, frequency, and variety. Attackers began by sending emails with seemingly harmless content to leaders of enterprises, which were in fact used to access the recipient's personal information. These emails were designed to give the attacker an almost permanent internal passage to steal and dispose of the victim's information database.

In Vietnam, enterprises are seeing a rapid digital shift and security systems are getting outdated, making these firms easy targets. According to Trend Micro’s report, Vietnam received the most Southeast Asian cyber attacks, with over 86 million scam emails discovered in the first half of 2018, followed by Singapore with over 27 million BEC scams detected.

Looking at these numbers, it is clear that Vietnam is a target for cybercriminals and companies and government entities must take cyber security seriously, or the consequences will be devastating. Besides, the growth of cyber security threats in Vietnam requires Vietnamese businesses to take a more proactive approach to responding to these threats.

According to Dhanya Thakkar, vice president of Trend Micro in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, in order to limit cyber attacks from BEC scams, Vietnamese enterprises need to have solutions in place to protect their private email, while simultaneously organising training courses to increase the awareness of company staff.

Besides, users, especially leaders of enterprises, need to make changes in certain processes (for example, when they send emails to staff to request money transfers, there should be confirmation from at least two leaders, instead of the one confirmation currently required) to increase safety. In addition, firms should deploy artificial intelligence to detect and prevent BEC scams.

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cyber security solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Its innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centres, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints.